A smart city otherwise called green economy initiative, will soon spring up in Ondo State.
Already,Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has approved the establishment of the novel initiative meant to provide a tourism hub for the entire South West Regional development.
The approval was an outcome of the weekly meeting of the State Executive Council (Exco) held at the Governor’s Office on Monday 22nd July, 2024.
Regional lntegration and Diaspora Relations’ commissioner, Prince ‘Boye 0logbese, who presented the memo at the Exco meeting stressed the many advantages expected from the plannwd Diaspora Smart City in the state.
The ministry’s spokesman ‘Bisi Agboola, in a statement, quoted Ologbese as saying: “The project is going to be a tourism hub for the entire South West Regional development.
“It is a complete diversification of the economy, especially when artificial lntelligence is moving ahead of crude oil as a source of revenue.
“The project will open our Sunshine State Capital in Akure Airport to other major cities within Nigeria and the entire world. .
“In the context of global tourism buziness, Diasporans and foreigners will have ample opportunity to own befitting edifice holiday apartments.
“The Green Economy lnitiative aspect of the project will tackle the climate change issue, which is affecting the entire world
“The own idea is to lncrease our lnternally Generated Revenue (lGR) and promote social economy growth through DDI Direct Diaspora lnvestment lnitiative and create massive employment for our teeming youths.
“The school thought has made us understand that the government cannot do buziness rather than creating platforms and environment for buziness to spur.
“We are not selling land for investors who want to lnvest in our tourism buziness, rather, the project is (PPP) Public Private Partnership, which (SPV) Special Purpose Vehicle has adopted a mechanism to accomodate all the potential lnvestors on the Smart City.
“We want to use our Blue economy to complement our Green economy, marketing our Deep Seaport as a tourist destination port to promote tourism buziness in the region.
“Under our Regional buziness lntegration, 0ndo and Ekiti States, respectively, have agreed to push the Diaspora Smart City tagged Green Economy lnitiative project through DAWN Comission, NIDC0M, NID0, NDIS and make it a reality.”
AgbooLa said 0logbese recalled the unflinching efforts of the departed Governor 0luwarotimi Akeredolu, who had the vision to upgrade 0ndo State from a civil service state to an economically viable one.
Hevadded: “The coming on board of the deep seaport ln 0ndo State is another giant stride and potential to place the state at a competitive economic growth.”
